All this comes as the public profile of America’s Mormons had been raised by two pop-culture hits: the recent TV series “Big Love” and the current Broadway hit, “The Book of Mormon.” The attention, says church spokesman Michael Purdy, is a “double-edged sword.”. But Spaniards introduced horses to the New World many centuries later, and extensive DNA studies have failed to find any genetic link between Israelites and Native Americans, suggesting instead that North America’s indigenous population came across the Bering Strait from Asia many thousands of years ago. In 2012, Mormon General Authority Marlin K. Jensen acknowledged that members are leaving the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "in droves." Resides in Huntsville, UT. Starting in 1978, the duties of Church Historians fell to the Executive director of the historical department. Jensen, the church’s official historian, would not provide any figures on the rate of defections, but he told Reuters that attrition has accelerated in the last five or 10 years, reflecting greater secularization of society. Emeritus general authorities are individuals who have been released from active duties as general authorities. LDS Church Historian Elder Marlin K. Jensen was asked if church leaders were aware that Mormons were “leaving in droves” which Jensen confirmed. But census data from some foreign countries targeted by clean-cut young missionaries show that the retention rate for their converts is as low as 25 percent. SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - A religious studies class late last year at Utah State University in Logan, Utah, was unusual for two reasons. The small group of students, faculty and faithful there to hear Mormon Elder Marlin Jensen were openly troubled about the future of their church, asking hard questions. [2] At the relatively young age of 28, he served as bishop of his ward in Huntsville, as had both his father and grandfather. These are tumultuous times for the faith founded by Joseph Smith in 1830, and the rumbling began even before church member Mitt Romney’s presidential bid put the Latter-Day Saints in the spotlight. There were demonstrations in Salt Lake City, which is home to the Mormon tabernacle but was also just named the “the gayest city in America” by the Advocate magazine, crediting its numerous gay-friendly bars, book stores and neighborhoods. Access to the internet is often credited and blamed for this mass exodus, where members learn about problematic doctrines and cover-ups of LDS history. Related To Kathleen Jensen, Matthew Jensen, Clarice Jensen, Stephen Jensen, Jessica Jensen. Many religions have been suffering similarly, he noted, arguing that Mormonism has never been more vibrant. His March 7, 2006 interview probed a variety of subjects, including some controversial topics. LDS support of Prop 8 became a lightning rod both inside and outside the Church. Several years back, LDS General Authority and outgoing official church historian, Marlin K. Jensen, publicly acknowledged that the membership of the church was leaving “in droves” and that the pace of defections was increasing in startling numbers. Mitt Romney’s religion has been less of a prominent issue on the campaign trail this time around than in 2008. Jensen was born in Huntsville, Utah. In 2004, he replaced D. Todd Christofferson as executive director of the Family and Church History Department,[13] a position he held previously when it was just the Historical Department. Jensen was asked by some LDS members in 1996 to address this problem. He later served first as a counselor, then as president, of the North America Northeast Area. They should foster a culture of mutual openness with the general historical community. On May 5, 2008, Jensen officially responded to Timothy Egan's New York Times op-ed piece which claimed that FLDS polygamy "is a look back at some of the behavior of Mormonism's founding fathers". For example, the “I am a Mormon” ad campaign, which features stereotype-busting Mormons who are black or single parents, helped boost chat sessions on the church’s website to more than a million in the last 12 months. Utah State University that LDS Church Historian and General Authority, Elder Marlin K. Jensen gave in late 2011. “The church has a very progressive research and information division, with tremendous public opinion surveyors,” he said. Now Utah Democratic Senator Ben McAdams and Republican Representative Derek Brown are proposing a similar statewide bill, and the Church’s position on that will be significant. It has been an opportunity to educate the public about Mormonism and fight misconceptions. Elder Marlin K. Jensen's response: Did the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints know that members are “leaving in droves?” a woman asked. This crisis of faith in the LDS church remains largely offstage in the race for the presidency. Members from California are leaving in droves. He often acted as a peacemaker, attempting to bring understanding or empathy to divisive issues. “If they are not revolutionary, they are at least going to be a breath of fresh air across the church,” Jensen told the Utah class. And it has now reached out, quietly, to the gay community. Still, in heavily evangelical South Carolina, Romney won only one-tenth of the vote among those who said a candidate’s religious beliefs mattered to them a great deal. As a 19-year-old, he served as a missionary for the LDS Church in West Germany. 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